New mural celebrates Winnipeg Olympian

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This article was published 12/11/2021 (1657 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A mural honouring Olympian and rising taekwondo star Skylar Park has been installed in south Winnipeg.

“It feels crazy, and it’s kind of weird to see my face up there, but I think it’s incredible and I’m super thankful to everyone whose been involved in making this happen,” Park told The Sou’wester.

The mural was installed on the side of the TRP Academy, Tae Ryong Park, at 95 Scurfield Blvd.

The taekwondo academy belongs to the Park family and is where the 22-year-old has trained since childhood, she said at the unveiling ceremony on Nov. 6.

Park brought home gold at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games and went on to compete at her first Olympic Games earlier this summer in Tokyo.

Take Pride Winnipeg! and Canadian Tire sponsored the mural. It features five images of Park celebrating her first Olympic appearance and the family’s south Winnipeg taekwondo academy. The top of the mural reads: “We all play for Canada.”

“I want to thank Canadian Tire for supporting me on my journey and making this happen,” Park said. “I was a part of their ‘We all play for Canada’ campaign, so to have this mural where I learned to play and where I first started taekwondo is incredible.”

Park said her family worked closely with Canadian Tire and the mural’s artist to make sure the finished product represented her and her values.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect, so to finally see it all put together is incredible. I was able to see the process and see it from the very beginning until now,” Park said. “It means a lot to have the mural here and know that it can inspire the next generation of athletes.”

The piece took artist Jennifer Mosienko five weeks to complete. She painted most of it in her backyard on panels resting on a giant easel.

Mosienko, who has created about 30 pieces for Take Pride Winnipeg!, said Park is the youngest female athlete to be featured on a mural in Winnipeg, and she really wanted the portraits to do her justice.

“We went through a few images, the family had a few images and we put it together basically creating a collage,” Mosienko said. “The Parks are an amazing family, and they really got Skylar to where she is.”

Take Pride Winnipeg! executive director Tom Ethans said the organization was approached by Canadian Tire to help fund the mural and highlight the accomplishment of Park.

“I got the artist, Jennifer Mosienko, to meet with the Park family to get a feel for the kind of person she was and then translate it into this mural,” Ethans said. “I didn’t know what it would look like, but the finished product is fantastic.

“I think it’s very important to highlight our young athletes and people who want to go out there and do positive things and make a difference.”

Take Pride Winnipeg! has commissioned over 300 murals in Winnipeg and some outside of the city, as well.